Chapter 1.10

Instead of the boy who couldn’t answer and just rolled his eyes, she opened her mouth.

“Um, that is….”

“Miss Winston, I asked that student.”

She closed her mouth and glared at the group member who received the question.

If he had read the summary even once, unless he was brainless, he should be able to answer.

…He read it, right?

“Uh… well….”

They say the unexpected can catch you off guard…! The boy couldn’t answer and just stuttered.

The group members, visibly flustered, didn’t expect to be questioned. She had known from the moment they tossed aside the materials she had given them and chatted among themselves. Her insides boiled with anger.

These slugs. Even after spoon-feeding them, they can’t eat properly?

Seeing his stupid face made her stomach churn at the fact that he was her group member.

“Ah, um. That’s… Although there were active conquests, it was because the new tax system stabilized people’s livelihoods. Also, there were frequent bumper harvests….”

The boy, clutching the paper she had given him, eventually gave an extremely vague answer.

She took off her glasses and rubbed her face.

“Hmm… alright, then. You may sit down. Well done.”

It wasn’t bad, but the response was ambiguous.

Returning to her seat, she glared at the group members with a ghostly expression. They all started to avoid her gaze.

The report and presentation she had prepared were perfect. So if the score was deducted, it was their fault.

“Next group, please.”

“Yes!”

To top it off, the next turn was Leonard. What bad luck.

Receiving cheers from his group members, Leonard began speaking with a bright and pleasant voice.

“I’m Leonard Klein, the leader of Group 4, and I’ll be presenting on the territorial changes of the Herais Empire.”

Leonard continued his presentation in a lively atmosphere, even throwing in jokes. It couldn’t help but be compared to her presentation, which was just straightforward.

And honestly, the content was perfect. There was a hint of envy in the admiration. She wanted to take out a handkerchief from her pocket and chew it to shreds.

“That’s all.”

As Leonard finished his presentation with a smile, applause erupted. Even she had to clap with a reluctant face.

She didn’t want to admit it, but it was a perfect presentation. The professor’s expression was good too.

“Great job!”

“Leon, you’re the best!”

Returning to his seat, Leonard exchanged high-fives with his group members, smiling contentedly.

“Leon’s group is amazing. The atmosphere is good too.”

“I wish we had a leader like that.”

Meanwhile, her foolish group members couldn’t stop chattering. She clicked her tongue internally as she glared at them.

In the end, they did nothing and just added their spoon. 

Shameless. 

Even if Leonard, whom they praised so highly, came, they couldn’t be saved.

As soon as the class ended, the three hopeless group members slipped out of the classroom, avoiding her gaze. It was obvious what they would go out and say about her.

Whether they did or not, she didn’t care and organized the materials they had left behind without reading.

“Raven.”

The voice calling her was Leonard’s. As always, he approached her with a friendly smile. She wondered what he was up to, but then Leonard asked in a voice low enough for only her to hear.

“Raven, did you do your group’s project by yourself?”

…Was it that obvious? Well, those guys must have been exceptionally lazy. I won’t ever be in the same group with them again….

“What business is it of yours? Are you going to tell the professor?”

She answered by growling and glaring at him.

“No, of course not.”

Leonard, instead of backing off as she hoped, shone his eyes and approached more familiarly.

“It’s impressive that you produced such a perfect result by yourself.”

“…Are you being sarcastic?”

Instinctively stepping back as Leonard approached, she glared at him and growled. Leonard quickly shook his head, smiling amicably as he explained.

“Sarcastic? No, I was genuinely impressed. The content was innovative, the materials were credible, and the organization was neat. I especially liked the part about literature….”

Whether Leonard kept talking or not, she consistently ignored him while packing her things. She had no desire whatsoever to engage in a historical discussion about the culture of Julius’s era with this guy.

She shot Leonard a sharp voice full of annoyance.

“I’m not interested in your review. I’m leaving, so don’t block my way.”

Seeing her irritated expression, Leonard finally seemed to notice something and awkwardly apologized.

“Oh… did I upset you again? Sorry, Raven.”

Whether he genuinely didn’t know or not was beside the point; did he realize that his constant apologies were more irritating? Even in this situation, his upright and correct demeanor was infuriating.

She glared at him with a tired expression before turning her head with a huff.

“Hey, Raven? If I upset you, I’m really sorry.”

Leonard persistently followed her, offering his apology. As she continued to ignore him, he awkwardly smiled and added one more thing.

“Oh, but your presentation was really great.”

“…….”

She paused for a moment.

It felt strange. While even her group members were badmouthing her, the only one offering praise was Leonard. Despite receiving far more accolades than her.

“…Enough! Don’t follow me!”

She snapped at Leonard for no reason and quickly walked away from him.

Only the sound of her shoes echoed in the hallway.

* * *

With the group project that had caused her considerable stress finally over, she was completely exhausted.

And coincidentally, only two weeks before the midterm exams.

Damn, damn, damn!!

She gritted her teeth and roughly tousled her hair.

She had wasted too much time on the project. Fortunately, since she was the presenter, the presentation itself seemed to receive a good evaluation, but how could she study all that material in the remaining time? There were only two weeks left until the midterms!

Having prepared in advance, if she worked hard from now on, she might be able to maintain her usual second place.

But what about Leonard? Unlike her, who stayed up until dawn working on the group project, Leonard collaborated with his group as the project intended, so he was in much better health and had already done quite a bit of exam preparation. The gap between first and second place was already insurmountable, but now it seemed like an impossible battle.

“…….”

Looking at the letter from the Marquis on the desk—roughly saying, ‘Again with second place, you should be ashamed. This time you must be first. You will, right? You can do it, right?’—her mood hit rock bottom.

As she buried her head in the desk in misery, her roommate’s sobbing, which she had been ignoring, grew louder and filled the room.

“Waaaah, huuuh….”

She tried to ignore it somehow, but it wasn’t working.

Suppressing the rising annoyance, she spoke in a deliberately calm voice.

“What happened to make you cry like this?”

When she placed a handkerchief on the bed, her roommate took it and blew her nose loudly before stuttering a response. That handkerchief would have to be thrown away. She had intentionally given her a cheap one, so it didn’t matter. Watching the handkerchief quickly soak, she resolved to definitely discard it while looking at her.

“Rian dumped me, sniff.”

“Oh.”

Wasn’t Rian or whoever her fifth boyfriend? But was it worth crying so much over? He didn’t seem like such a great guy.

As she showed no reaction, her roommate, feeling upset, rubbed her eyes and snarked.

“Well, a study bug like you wouldn’t understand this.”

It was true she wasn’t interested in romance, so she had nothing to say in response. With barely enough time for preview, review, assignments, note-taking, memorizing formulas, and exam study, when would she have time for romance? And where was the noble male student who would want to seriously date her anyway?

“I get that you were dumped, but don’t take it out on me.”

With her cold response, her roommate fell silent, quietly sniffling. She added to end the conversation altogether.

“Take this opportunity to study for the midterms.”

“Will studying now even get me good grades?!”

Her roommate, practically tearing apart the handkerchief she had given her, snapped in a shrill voice. She didn’t understand why she was upset when she could just start now.

Unable to comprehend her roommate’s behavior, she watched with a puzzled expression before suddenly standing up. A thought flashed through her mind like lightning.

She remembered…!

There was a way to shake Leonard’s mental state before the midterms—even if she couldn’t completely break it!